Olivedale Suburb Report

Private Property South Africa

Ben Kelly •
May 12, 2011

Ask most Johannesburg residents what they know about Olivedale and they will probably tell you that there’s a hospital there. Apart from the significant Olivedale Hospital there is plenty more to recommend Olivedale as one of prettier suburbs on the northern outskirts of Johannesburg.

The southern boundary of the area tracks the natural boundary created by the nearby spruit. This spruit provides a natural green-zone across the suburb, but also one that makes navigating certain streets a little difficult when the rains come down.

Otherwise, Olivedale is the epitome of the Johannesburg suburb, with leafy, tree-lined suburb and easy access to shopping facilities, schools and business areas across the northern suburbs.

The suburb has all three of the property types including freehold, sectional title and estates with estates forming the smallest part of the equation with 10% of the total stock. Freehold properties make up the largest proportion of the properties with just under 50% of the stock.

Property values saw a similar pattern to most suburbs over the past eight years. Prices of freehold properties rose from an average price of R734 000 in 2004 to R1.4 million in 2008. Sectional title properties saw a similar escalation moving from R497 000 in 2004 to R852 000 in 2010.

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The freehold property market](https://www.privateproperty.co.za/news/property-market-news/all.htm) had a small dip in 2009, most likely as a result of the drop in demand in the market, but the market appeared to recover in 2010 with the average selling price above the R1.5 million level for the first time.

A relatively small amount of the recent sellers were long-term owners, with only 13% of recent sellers having owned their properties for 11-years or more. The largest percentage of recent sellers had owned their properties for 5-7 years, indicating that those that bought on a speculative basis were now cashing in their investments.

Although it is on the outside of the highway, making getting into the centre of Jo’burg and Sandton slightly more difficult Olivedale is relatively well positioned in relation to Fourways and the north-west of Johannesburg. Jacaranda Ave and Grosvenor/Douglas Avenue both provide routes over the highway without having to brave the perils of the highway interchanges at Malibongwe and William Nicol.

Shopping-wise it has the enviable position of having a multitude of options right on its doorstep with Northgate to the west and Fourways to the east.

Bordering onto Johannesburg North, there may be elements of Olivedale that have higher than average crime but on the whole the suburb is relatively well insulated for a suburb that does not have access control. There are areas, bordering on a fairly large open area that are access controlled but these make up the smaller part of the suburb.